A devasting earthquake struck the Tohoku area of Japan on March 11, 2011, at 2:46 pm. Several huge tsunami hit the Pacific coast of Japan soon after. I am an elementary school teacher in the town of Onagawa, located on the coast in Miyagi Prefecture. It is almost as close to the epicenter of the earthquake you can get to and still be on land. Having experienced the earthquake and seen the tsunami with my own eyes, I decided to document as much as I can while picking up the pieces of my own life and continuing my job in Onagawa. I've started this site to share my experiences, and the news of Onagawa, and the city of Ishinomaki, where I lived until the tsunami destroyed my apartment building.

128,808 houses completely destroyed (earthquake and/or tsunami) **houses where the tsunami reached ​the ceiling of the first floor were​ ​ classified as "completely destroyed"​​269,871 houses partially destroyed​​​ **this generally refers to tsunami ​ damage that did not reach the ​ ceiling of the first floor​​ 297 houses burned​​ 3,352 houses where the tsunami waters covered the first floor 17,459 houses that suffered water damage that did not cover the first floor​​​​740,185 houses partially damaged (earthquake damage)​ ​